Go BIG, Go Laser, Or Go Home?

[cliffm]

A couple sentences got lost when I posted the picture ,but looks like your doing great. As you may see on mine a pet ate a couple of my rockets so hence only 6 and in my zeal to finish I put the decals in the front of the windscreen on backwards. The paint on this is interior latex which I no longer use, but I was "trying to save a buck". Have fun.

[oldflyer2]

Great looking Corsair Cliff. I'm planning on filling in the fusalage stringers and most of the wing. It's a fun project and my first warbird id 25 years.

[jace314]

Well I made my decision today...

I hit up my Local, and purchased the laser cut BF-109. Couple reasons for this choice, now.

1- Wanted to save alittle bit of money, and get some paints for my first time painting a plane to scale. Got all the RLM's I will need and still saved alittle compared to the giant corsair.
2- Going to convert it to electric RC, and wanted something alittle smaller, and less weight to start my conversion with.

So I will start a build log once I proceed.

And Next plane will be the giant 1000 corsair!
Thanks Guys!!!

[peterc4]

I was banging my head trying build the 500 series Avenger. Long story short - I couldn't find a tweezers. I needed to add a couple of chips of wood into gaps where I had relocated stringers to make them less wavy...

Anyway I was thinking about this thread when I was in the car driving to @#$%$# WallyWorld to buy (yet another) ^%$#@! tweezers. So the next day, out of spite, I went out and bought a 400 Series Laser Cut P-40 kit.

What a difference between the kits! The laser cutting was only part of it. The biggest difference was the size. I had forgotten how much easier the 400 series kits were to build.

I also have a 500 series Hellcat kit sitting around. To head the frustration off at the pass...I brought the plan to work and blew it up to about 25" WS. Done and done.

Go big or have a tweezers handy.

[BillParker]

Did sumbuddy sat "big hellcat?"

[peterc4]

yikes...what a beast! Balsa? or is there spruce, etc involved in that.

Hellcat envy...

Now I think I'll keep blowing up the 500 series Hellcat. If I make the jump to 3/32" wood I might as well go 36". I'm not sure at what size the "overbuilt" 500 series design becomes underbuilt, but I'm getting the bug to build big things.

Years ago, I built (but never flew) a couple of Guillows 400 series kits. Those are the largest kits I have built.

[BillParker]

The hellcat is actually the 1000 series blown to roughly 90"... (300%)

The P-40 above it in the photo is a 500 series blown up to around 80"... (400-500%)

Both of those planes were built all balsa, and were EXPENSIVE... Learned me a lesson... (later planes were built with 1/4" pine plywood... I can now build em blown up cheaper than I can buy the kits...)

Build photos:

http://www.parkerinfo.com/ap46.htm

Paul K. Guillow, Inc. Balsa Wood Airplanes P-40 WARHAWK
Kit Number 501 Wing Span: 16 1/2" Scale: 1/32

http://www.parkerinfo.com/ap47.htm

Paul K. Guillow, Inc. Balsa Wood Airplanes F6F-3 HELLCAT
Kit Number: 1005 Wing Span: 33" Scale: 1/16

[cliffm]

I've built a couple of the500 series and found that if your fingers have a larger diameter than the fuselage you could be in for some challenges in nano world. So, I am now equipped with a nice selection of tweezers, forceps, long nose pliers and some other holding devices that are nearly impossible for me to build without. To me the smaller planes take a more skilled and practiced builder to make um purty. The larger scale allows for a little more ease in correcting mistakes as the smaller planes require a higher degree of precision. After perusing the warhawk and the mustang (400 lc) I am quite pleased with what I see. I really did'nt mind cutting and pasting the notches on the die cut models but after looking at these kits my fingers will indeed enjoy the vacation. I still like BIG.

[peterc4]

I'm not sure my wife is ready for 500% Guillows kits. Not enough room in the apartment. I'm still in the doghouse for buying 3 pinball machines (long story...).

That said...I'm feeling more like building larg(er) planes.

I love the idea of little planes. I can get the small ones built, but they take more concentration and so far they seem to take me more time.

My LHS is mostly plastic kits - he has a mindboggling array of clamps, tweezers, hemostats - etc. All of it is pretty reasonable. I have to swing by and see what he has.